Improvement in gathering attachments for sewing-machines



J OSEPHW. LYON. V l'mprovement in. Gathering Attachment for Sewing Machine.

Patented Jan. 30, 1872.

I Maw me.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

JOSEPH W. LYON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN GATHERING ATTACHMENTS FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 123,115, dated January 30, 1872.

SPECIFICATION. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH W. LYON, of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Sewing-Machine Pleater, of which the following is a specification:

Nature of the Invention.

My invention has reference to attachments to sewing-machines intended for making pleats or ruffles; and consists of a presser-foot formed in a peculiar manner, upon the bottom of which slides a flat metal blade, which is provided with notches or teeth for holding the cloth, and is actuated by a lever which connects with the needle-bar, the whole arranged and operating as hereinafter described General Description.

. of said piece, and is also bent at right angles beneath it and turned up on the left-hand side so as to form a guide-way, b. The backward extension of the plate B forms a bearing for a pivot, 0, upon which plays a lever, O, the opposite end of said lever having an elongated eye for attachment to the needle-bar by the screw 0. To this lever, at the end first referred to, is pivoted a connecting-arm or link, 0 which imparts motion to a vibrating lever, D, the upper end of which is hung by a pivot, 61, to a suitable projection on the frameplate B. The latter lever, in turn, acts upon the pleater-arm or plate E moving within a slot, 0, in said plate, the extent of motion imparted to the-plate being regulated by the circular toothed stop F, which is attached to the pleater-arm' E by and swings upon the pivot f, the latter being placed eccentric with the semicircle of teeth. The end of the plate E furthest from the needle or back of the presser-foot, being flat in form and of some length, fits and slides in the guide-way b. To prevent it from slipping out of the guideway by accident a screw, I), having a head with flat under surface, is inserted in the middle of the guide-way, and a slot, e out in the plate E to correspondwith the small or shank part of the screw, the latter being inserted far enough so that the head bears lightly upon the plate E. The front part of the pleater-arm e which forms the cloth into pleats, is bent up slightly toward the foot G on the end nearest the needle, and has a serrated or toothed edge, and also a slot, 0 to permit the passage of the needle. The front and rear parts of the pleaterarm or plate E are connected by the bowed arm e, which takes an upward turn at a point on line with the end of the resser-foot, so as to be clear of the cloth passing between the foot G and plate e Thepresser-foot G is made movable bymeans of the slot y, andis secured to a downwardly-projectin g portion of the plate B by a set-screw, 9 The bottom of the foot G is formed with two steps or ledges, and 9 H is the presser-foot bar, and I the needle-bar of the machine.

The operation of the device is as follows The socket piece A, to which are attached the operating devices, is first secured to the presserfoot bar H by turning up the screw (1. The lever O is next connected with the needle-bar I by inserting the screw 0 into said bar through the slot or link in the end of the lever. On starting the machine the lever O is moved up and down with the needle-bar I, the link or elongated eye in the end of the lever permitting the necessary lateral movement of the screw 0. The motion of this lever is imparted to the vibratinglever D through the arm U The lower end of thelast-mentioned lever, working in the slot ein the pleater-arm or plate E, moves the said plate backward and forward, the extent of each movement depending on the length of play which the lever D has in the slot 0. If it is desired to increase the limit of motion in the pleater'arm E, the toothed stop F is turned across the slot e just in proportion as the said movement is to be increased, the stop serving to take up the ineffective play of the lever D. The front part of the lever-arm e which bears upon the foot Gr, being slightly turned up toward said foot, and being furnished with teeth, readily catches upon the cloth to be pleated, and carries one part over the other in the required manner. To give the utmost certainty to the action of the plate 0, two steps, g 9 are formed on the foot G. Thus the plate 0 is sure to catch and hold the cloth when it comes to the step 9 the other step serving to press the ruffle into the most perfect form. As thefoot G can be set either back or forward by means of the slot g and setscrew 9 it can be made to. correspond to any change in the length of movement of the pleater-arm E, and so allow for whatever variation may berequired in the breadthof the pleat. By means of the the garment.

produce any desired width or fullness of pleat or ruftle.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination, with the frame-plate B, socket piece A, and presser G, of the laterallyextended reciprocating pleater-arm E and the lever 0, connected with and operating the arm E, substantially as described.

2. In combination with the above, the adjusting-stop F.

3. The adjustable presser-foot Gr, havin stops g 9 for the object specified.

In witness whereof I have signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses: JOSEPH W. LYON.

O. 0. Hum, Gno. W. MIATT. 

